Going, Going, Gone
by Weirdo.Blabber
Summary: [AU][GraLu] How much are you willing to do for the one girl you never thought you would love and never thought would love you?
1. PROLOGUE: In Retrospect

**WEIRDO BLABBS: **Well, after a long break from Fairy Tail, I am now writing another GraLu, as promised. Thank you for all those who have supported me all the way here and so here I come with another FanFic with (I hope) a different flavor. I don't know how long this will be but I can somehow say that it won't be _that _long.

I hope you enjoy. This is Weirdo and this is **Going, Going, Gone**!

**SUMMARY: **How much are you willing to do for the one girl you never thought you would love and never thought would love you?

**DISCLAIMER: **But alas, I don't own it, do I?

* * *

**-PROLOGUE-**_  
__In retrospect, everything makes sense._

_Where do I begin? I guess it would be strange to start at the end but humor me in this. It's just that, the way she looked then before we parted ways was the one that is eternally preserved in my memory._

_As I let go of her hand, and the balloons we released rose up, up, up into the sky, the girl beside me laid her head on my shoulder._

_"Going... Going... _Gone_...!" she whispered and she breathed in deeply. She said those lines as she always had: with so much happiness and so much _hope_._

_I looked at her from the corner of my eyes and smiled sadly at the thought of goodbye. Her blonde hair, her brown eyes, her pale lips and her joyous smile brought so much warmth in the coldness of my heart._

_"What did you wish for this time?" I asked._

_She chuckled a bit and her full weight was laid on my side. "Three more minutes..."_

_I gritted my teeth, letting a sad smile adorn my face. I knew what was going next; and, out of impulse, I leaned over her to kiss her: our first and last._

_Her hand reached up to my face slowly. And as the sun set on the most perfect day of all, she left me... without even saying goodbye._

_Ah, but telling you how we broke up wouldn't make any sense if I didn't tell you the whole story, right?_

_Well, then..._

_Here we go._

* * *

**WEIRDO BLABBS (AGAIN): **Yeah, just like that… :3

Hope to see you in the next chapter!

* * *

_Please support my collab fanfiction with WolfieAnne,__** The Last Celestial Mage**__, and maybe my other FT fanfictions: __**Another Shot at Love, Good Taste, Massage?, Girls and Shopping **__and __**Starstruck!. **__My other (slightly) active fanfictions: __**Kuroko no Basuke RanDrabbles.**_

_If you are interested in my other works not stated above, please go to my FanFiction profile: /~weirdoblabber_


	2. Graveyard Shift

**WEIRDO BLABBS: **Frankly, I'm not very sure as to what I'm writing. I have a plot in my mind but because of insecurities and unsure thoughts, I don't know how far I'm going to push through. Anyway, this is what you would call writer's block… I guess…? Anyway, read on!

**NOTE: **I'm not a nurse and so I do not have a damned idea of how they do their jobs. Though, I've interviewed my sister to get a short glimpse and so I hope you all would understand if I make a few mistakes here and there about their jobs and about the things they do in the hospitals or about the diseases and the disorders and the like. Yeah, I've pretty much spent my whole life trying to apologize.

**R & R**!

**DISCLAIMER: **But alas, I don't own it, do I?

* * *

**-CHAPTER ONE-**_  
__Graveyard shift was when we first met._

He didn't know why graveyard shifts were so-called. Probably because it spans from late at night to early in the morning; during which working was an absolute goosebumper as if in a graveyard. Or probably some genius thought it funny to call it that. Eitherway, Gray Fullbuster was not fond of these late-night shifts.

Fresh from passing the licensure exams, the twenty-three-year-old had taken the opportunity to volunteer in one of the more prestigious hospitals as a springboard for a possible job. However, that _'job'_ seemed to be very far away because he had just started today. He needed at least two years of experience before he could apply. If that was what would happen, with the increasing rate of competition, he would be jobless. Worst of all, everyone there was definitely bullying the new guys and so they've got graveyard shifts for at least a month or so.

_Way to go, Gray_, he mused with feigned excitement just to get his mind off things.

The young man tiredly rubbed his dark eyes with one calloused hand. A beaded bracelet slid down lower on his arm, past his watch. His black rubber slippers squeaked on the tiled floor as he walked in the hallway. Aside from that and the sound the wheels of the trolley made, everything was still and steady; which reminded Gray of corpses.

The raven-head shivered and shook his head. Why should he be scaring himself at three in the morning? It was not helping at all. He eagerly shrugged the thoughts away and then yawned before entering a room on the fifth floor's Intensive Care Unit.

On ICU-1 was a fragile little baby fighting for her dear life. She had been there earlier that day after her mother's labor when the doctors found some complications with her heart (this, Gray knew after looking at the baby's chart). Her weak mother was in another private room while her father was there by her side, clad in the ICU's dark green hospital gown, cap and mask. Gray, himself, put on a cap, mask and a coat before proceeding to enter the baby's perimeter and checking to see if everything was in order. When he saw that everything was, he gave the father a small greeting, took off the cap, mask and gown, pushed his trolley out and left.

Basically, that was what he does. Go into a room, check the chart, ask a few questions, give some medicine in some cases, and then leave. If he saw that the family was having quite an emotional storm, he would casually offer them hi's and hello's as encouragement, not that he actually meant it. Gray had always been a cold bastard, or so he was told. He rolled his eyes at the thought of compassion and love, and always passed it off as a scheme movie makers came up with to bring in cash. He didn't believe in it, not the least bit—not after his parents left him in an orphanage before he could even speak.

He sighed. His mind was wandering off again. He didn't even notice he'd already finished checking on five ICU patients and had only one to go. He moved his hands all over his body to see if his clothes were still over him and, seeing as they were, knocked on the door.

Even from outside the room, Gray could hear the faint sound of the television. Apparently, Miss— the nurse looked at the name on the door—Lucy Heartfilia was a late sleeper. The raven-haired male shook his head and smiled warmly as he entered. Unlike the other ICU rooms, he didn't need to change into a mask or gown since the patient was only there for observation.

"Good evening," he said, closing the door behind him.

There was a blonde on the bed; he deduced she was Lucy Heartfilia, 20. She had hazel brown eyes that widened dramatically at him, tears swimming in them. A slight blush adorned her pale cheeks and her thin, pink mouth hung ajar as she panted, looking at Gray. Her arms were clutching the garment of her hospital gown by the chest as a tangled mess of blonde locks cascaded just below her shoulders.

Gray raised an eyebrow inwardly. Exactly _what _kind of show was this girl watching?

"Hello, Ms. Heartfilia. I'm here for my rounds," he casually said and took the chart that hung from the foot of Lucy's bed.

"Ye—" her voice sounded constrained, as if she was holding it in. Her breath sounded like hiccups now: short and shallow.

"What—?"

A second later, the girl was writhing in pain on the bed. She was gasping for air as the tears trickled down from the corner of her eyes to produce dark circles on her pillows. Her hands were clutching, grabbing, and holding on to the sheets as he mouth opened to give Gray a silent plea, "Help…!"

The young nurse managed to snap out of his stupor and he sprung to action. He turned Lucy on her back, tilted her head, grabbed the oxygen mask, turned it on, and then held the girl's arms to keep her from swinging them around. The girl sweat profusely and grabbed his hand on her, her nails digging deeply, but not deeply enough to injure him.

"Just breathe…" he ordered and looked into her wet, chocolate orbs, "Relax and breathe… That's it… That's it…"

It took a minute or so before the girl was finally able to steady her breathing and relax. Her hand eased up and she put them on her side, taking deep, even breaths.

"Feeling better, Miss Heartfilia?" he asked.

"Much better," she replied, sitting up.

"I think you should lay back down," Gray said, worried that she might have a mini-heart attack as she had now. "It's not a good idea to overwork yourself."

"It's fine, really," she said and smiled casually at him. She took off the oxygen mask and turned to face Gray, who was now checking her charts and writing a few comments, as well as the time her attack happened. "What's your name?"

"Huh?" He wasn't sure if he was supposed to give them that but what the heck. "Gray Fullbuster. Uh, I think you should tell Dr. Fernandez that you had an attack just in case he misses this on the chart." He flipped the chart over and put it back at the foot of Lucy's bed.

He looked up and saw that the girl was writing on a thick leather-bound book now, an energetic smile on her face. Really, if she wasn't pale and hospitalized, she'd probably be a big ball of bursting sunshine. Gray chuckled inwardly, out of fear. Then, he stood by her side and took something from his trolley.

"Here's your prescription," he said and put it on her bedside table. "Do you have a guardian or should I just tell you when to take this?"

"It's fine," she said, not looking up from her writing, "I've been taking that in all my life so I think I'm okay."

_Huh_, he expressed in his mind. Independent… _impressive_. "If you don't mind me asking, what's that?"

Lucy beamed at him, eyes full of excitement now. It was a stark contrast to Gray's droopy, lethargic look and this made him smile at himself. "This is my bucket list."

"Like… _one-hundred-things-I-want-to-do-before- I-die_ bucket list?"

She nodded. "I want to make sure I don't die without at _least _experiencing the fun stuff," she said and showed him the page she had just been scribbling on:

_#77: Watch a drama alone without the medicine._

_I have successfully finished watching 'A Walk to Remember' without taking any medicine prior. Although I had a slight attack, it was nothing to fuss about. There's a nurse here who helped me out and I think it was a way the Signs are looking over me—_

He didn't know why, but Gray somehow had the idea that he was talking to a complete weirdo. He laughed nervously and hoped she didn't hear. "You really shouldn't be doing anything dangerous like this, you know? If I wasn't there, you could have gone—well, you _could have gone_."

"But I _didn't_," she said as-a-matter-of-factly. She had a point and proved Gray he was indeed talking to a loco. "The Signs are watching over me."

"Pardon? The 'signs'?"

"There's God who watches over you, right?" she said and Gray cringed at the thought. He wouldn't call himself a believer but he wasn't an atheist either… just a sceptic; because if there was a 'loving _God'_ then he wouldn't have grown up in an orphanage. _No_, he wasn't bitter at the world but—okay, maybe he _was _a bit bitter, but that was off the point. "God assigns angels to all of us, right? And I believe he gave me twelve."

"Twelve?" he asked sceptically, not even trying to hide the obvious mockery. Whether or not the girl noticed, she didn't show. "What makes you think that?" _What makes you think you're so special_?

"Well, I'm a lost case," she said, shrugging, and then continuing her writing. "I've got the Signs. There's Aquarius and Taurus, Leo and Aries, Virgo, Scorpio—"

"Those are the Zodiacs… _not _angels…"

"_Exactly_…" He didn't even know what that meant.

"Yeah…" _Whatever_, he thought and slowly started to make his way out. "Well, don't make a habit of it, Miss Heartfilia. I'm sure your '_signs'"—_he emphasized on this word in a mocking tone—"don't appreciate you pushing your luck like that."

"Yup, yup," she said gleefully and continued writing. She didn't even bother to look up at Gray.

Gray made no more comment about the girl as he eagerly pushed the trolley out. Really, this hospital is full of weirdo's. He wondered vaguely if that was a requirement for admission but then pushed the thought to the back of his head. He kept wheeling around until he found the station. After his rounds, he wouldn't have anything to do until 7AM when the doctors arrive. Until then, maybe he'd just surf the internet.

He didn't know why, but somehow, he wanted to know more about the zodiacs.

* * *

"Everything going well, Lucy?" asked the tattooed doctor. He was looking at her chart that morning and she sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes when his voice registered in her ears.

"Good morning, Jellal," she said, greeting him. She didn't even bother to hide the yawn that came next. "Busy day for your Sign?"

"Not yet," Dr. Fernandez said. The girl still has a thing for zodiacs and stuff and he smiled. He kept on reading until his smiling face turned into a questioning one. "You had an attack at three in the morning?"

"It was a minor thing," she said, smiling; she waved her hands in a dismissing manner to convince him. It didn't work, of course, as one of the young man's eyebrows shot up as if to say 'Really, now?' at her. "Really, it was! I mean, I was just watching a movie—"

"Lucy, you _do _know you're not supposed to watch anything _too _emotional. Your heart won't take that."

"But it _did_…!" she said as if it we're the most natural thing to say; like saying she had blonde hair or the weather outside was sunny and warm. Jellal Fernandez was _not _amused.

"I admire your optimism, Lucy. And it's not like we're stopping you to have a normal life," he said and smiled. He put a large hand on the girl's shoulder and ushered her to look at him, "But we can't have you going around recklessly trying to push your limits. Your heart is too weak, and if you're not careful, you might break it."

Lucy pouted. She knew that. _Of course_, she knew _that_. Of all the things she knew, _that _was what she was constantly reminded of every single day of her life; _that_ was what she always reminded herself of. Which was exactly the reason why she wanted to prove herself that she was more than just a weak-hearted girl who was not expected to survive until she was twenty. For Christ's sake, she _is _twenty now, and she's still alive. Doesn't that tell them, at least, that she wasn't as weak as they say she is?

Instead of moping, the girl's pout was tugged into a smile that melted Jellal's heart. She inched closer to him and asked, "So, you're going to tell me some good news, aren't you?"

The young doctor sighed. This girl was _definitely _sad-proof. She was a refreshing ray of sunshine despite the gloomy fate cast upon her.

"Well, you're _still _not number one on the list," he said, referring to the list of patients in queue to receive a heart for surgery. "_But_, as always, your heart is strong and I think it can wait for the other two B-pluses to get their surgeries before yours."

"_I'm number three_?" she said. "_I'm number three?!_"

"Yes, yes," he said and he could feel his smile widen as hers did. He couldn't blame the girl; just a week ago, she was number seventeen on the list. Bumping up to number three in that short span of time was just overwhelming—it was almost a miracle.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," he denied. "Some patients found B-plus donors from outside the country and so they got their surgeries."

"And the others…?"

"Well…" Jellal let his voice trail off. He didn't want to tell the girl of the grim fate the others on the list have gone through. Six people were deprived of a life they were supposed to have just because there weren't enough hearts to go around. The thought that crossed his mind made Jellal almost laugh. Hearts were passed from hospital to hospital like it was a basketball. "They were moved to a better place."

"I see…" the girl said, trying hard to hide the understanding in her voice. Even if Jellal didn't want to tell her, she knew what became of them—what would become of _her _if it came to that. "Hey, Jellal—"

"I somehow keep forgetting to tell you that you're supposed to call me _Doctor _Jellal."

Lucy rolled her eyes at her friend. "Whatever… Anyway, last night I was up to number 77 on my bucket list."

"The movie, right?"

She nodded.

"I'd be happy for you if you didn't risk your life for a stupid film, Lucy." He put the chart back at the foot of Lucy's bed. "So I guess you're going to do your ritual again, right?"

"Yup, yup!" the girl confirmed. "You're going to allow me access to the rooftop, right? I won't take 'no' for an answer."

"I have the feeling you would _still _do that thing even if I locked you up," he shivered. If there was one thing Lucy didn't know what to do, it was giving up. It was scary how such a fragile girl could work so hard. "And besides, you're scheduled to leave this afternoon so I don't see why the heck not."

"Thank you, Jellal!" she said gave him a pat on the arm.

"But you have to eat breakfast first then take your medicine before you go up, okay? And make sure no one sees you…" he said.

"Oh, Jellal. I've been going in and out of this hospital all my life and not once has anyone noticed me going up there," she said confidently.

"Yes, but it's almost seven in the morning and graveyard shift ends so a lot of nurses will be leaving and some are coming in. You're not exactly stealthy, you know?"

"I'll be careful," she promised.

Lucy waved her friend goodbye and looked at her feet as they moved from side to side on her bed. Number three, huh? Things are looking up. If everything goes well and she gets a surgery, then maybe she won't have to worry about _not _making it in time for her twenty-first birthday.

She shrugged and scolded herself for thinking such dark thoughts. If anything, she wanted all thoughts in her to be bright and sunny. Her situation was as depressing as it is now; thinking about death and dying was certainly not going to help. Sure, she knew she was going to die anyway—it was, after all, the only certainty in this ever-changing life. But to tell herself that she only had a few months to live when she knew there was had a fighting chance was not something she wanted to do. For her sake and for the sake of the people she loved, she _is _going to live even if it kills her. Well, okay, maybe she wouldn't let it kill her.

Lucy hurriedly chomped on her toast and eggs before taking two pills in her hand and washing them down with water. Then, she stepped down on her bed, grabbed a box and a pump from her cabinet and started to blow air into elastic, yellow balloons.

_Please_, she thought and she could feel the un-rhythmic beat of her heart because of the manual labor of blowing air into balloons, _please let me make it… Please let me make it_, she prayed to her Signs.

* * *

**WEIRDO BLABBS (AGAIN): **Sorry, hello. First of all I'd like to think that having this long a chapter is okay (is it?). Anyway, I'm sorry. I didn't know what Jellal's zodiac was an Google wasn't much of help. Does anyone else know? I'm sorry if things are a bit confusing right now; I'm still trying to fix the plot and the character development so yeah. I hope not to disappoint you guys. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to type something in the box at the lower right of your window—yeah, right there—and hit 'post'.

See you guys in the next chapters! Thank you all for reading!

**EDITED June 10th, 2014: **FTLover was kind enough to notice that they probably won't feed Lucy high-fat food (such as bacon); thus, I deleted it and had her eat just toast and eggs. Hope that settles the mistake. Thank you!

**R & R!**

* * *

_Please support my collab fanfiction with WolfieAnne,__** The Last Celestial Mage**__, and maybe my other FT fanfictions: __**Another Shot at Love, Good Taste, Massage?, Girls and Shopping **__and __**Starstruck!. **__My other (slightly) active fanfictions: __**Kuroko no Basuke RanDrabbles.**_

_If you are interested in my other works not stated above, please go to my FanFiction profile: /~weirdoblabber_


	3. Those Yellow Balloons

**WEIRDO BLABBS: **Faster than I'd hoped. This chapter came faster than I'd hoped. Anyway, I hope you all are doing well as you read this. Grab a popcorn and some drinks, maybe? Thank you!

** FTLover (Guest): **Your review! OMGee and I was like D'oh! Right… _Right_! I _completely _made a mistake there, thank you for pointing that out. I apologize for that obvious mistake and I will be sure to revise it. Again, thank you and if you have any more comments or if you find any more mistakes I've made, please don't hesitate to point them out. **Domo arigatou gozaimasu!**

**R & R**!

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Fairy Tail or **Kusama Nowaki **(Junjou Romantica)who will be showing up in this chapter (and maybe in some future chapters). Do not sue, I do not have a private lawyer.

* * *

**-CHAPTER TWO-**_  
Those yellow balloons…_

At the sound of his 7AM alarm, Gray's head snapped happily to the direction it was coming from. He had been waiting for it the whole morning so upon hearing it, he ran as carefully as he could toward his locker to turn the device off. Immediately, he stripped off his scrub suit in a record time of two seconds and put on his casual denim jacket over his brown shirt. It took him even less time to wear his pants and his shoes. He, then, excitedly ran toward the door of the nurse's station and grabbed his card to sign out. The nurses and other volunteers noticed his energy that morning and he waved a goodbye to them before stepping off. He'd never missed his bed more in his entire life!

Nothing exciting ever happened in his first shift except that one with the blonde in the ICU, so spending most of the hours in the nurse's station was not as exciting as it was supposed to be. He'd made new friends and learned a lot from the senior nurses; still that did not compensate for the hours of waiting for to do something.

Graveyard shift was not as bad as he made it sound, though, he had to admit. On a scale of one to ten, he'd rate it a seven– _point five_. Yeah, it was a hell of a lot scarier than when he'd first thought about it but that aside, it was quite the experience. Learning from the seniors, talking to them; he isn't especially keen on making friends but it is great that he is in good terms with his colleagues. He is looking forward to his next shift in two days, too; but for now, Gray Fullbuster needed to rest; preferably the whole day.

The young raven head let out a tired yawn as he sluggishly carried his body around the hallway toward the elevator. He pondered for a while whether or not he has food in his refrigerator at home but figured he doesn't. That was when he decided he would just sleep the hunger away. After all, he is more tired than he is hungry.

A thought crossed his mind and he gave a soft _'ack'_ before stopping. He forgot that he has to visit the orphanage today! He gave himself a facepalm and shook his head. Seems like rest is going to have to wait. What, with over twenty kids from ages four to sixteen eagerly coming at him whenever he visited, he'd probably have to stay awake until dinner. What's more, the nuns will most definitely nag him about his first year away. Not that he minds; as cold as he is towards other people, Gray Fullbuster knows how to treasure those who care and what they give him. Those little tykes and the orphanage staff have grown on him like unwanted weeds, and they give him more meaning to his life than just existing. And though he doesn't necessarily like their small hands and the way they would climb on his back, he made every moment of his visits count.

He heaved a tired sigh.

This is going to be his fifth visit since he left a year ago; back when he decided that a jobless twenty-two-year-old was way too old to still be in an orphanage. The nuns didn't stop him at all, fully aware that he was a strong, smart young man; so they entrusted him with a small amount of money to get him started. Gray found himself a nice, cheap apartment and got a part-time job at a flower shop while still reviewing for the licensure exams. That and his freelance work as a theses editor were somehow able to sustain him. It had been a rough year, though, he recalled. He would sometimes think of going back to the orphanage but thought better of it. He was, and still is, too proud.

Working and studying, rarely having time for himself, he passed on his first take. The people in the orphanage celebrated with him. In fact, if he hadn't known better, the whole orphanage was happier than he was. The way they gave him a small party to congratulate him for officially being a registered nurse and the buckets of tears they shed were only the beginning of that proof.

_What should I buy them, then_? Gray thought long and hard for something fun yet cheap. He was coming short on this month's budget and his salary from the flower shop wasn't going to come until next week. Ah, speaking of which, he has to work at the flower shop later that afternoon. He groaned a defeated groan. He probably wasn't going to make it until his twenty-fourth if he keeps overworking himself.

A series of careful, yet loud, footsteps snapped Gray out of his reverie and he looked up, the staircase toward the rooftop directly above him.

_Strange_, he thought, nobody is supposed to go up there. Only the maintenance staff is allowed and as far as he knew, maintenance isn't until noon. Unless that was a hard-headed staff or what he just heard was an in-patient.

He froze. Suicide isn't uncommon among patients with terminal cases. He always figured they would rather die in their own terms than because of some crazy disease that rendered them helpless.

The sling bag he forgot was there was immediately slung to his back as Gray climbed two steps at a time to catch up to whoever wants to do whatever on the rooftop. He could feel panic when he heard the door open and then slam shut.

_Shit, shit, shit!_

Gray could already feel his energy boost back up. He climbed the remaining two flights in a matter of seconds and before he knew it, he reached the door and stealthily opened it.

A strong gust of wind blew past him as he shut the door silently. From where he stood, he could see a blonde still in her hospital gown, standing just behind the railings of the rooftop's edge; in her hands she held around ten yellow balloons. The girl's blonde strands softly flowed in the breeze. She was calmly just standing there, as if waiting for something. Even Gray seemed to wait, rooted to his spot. He forgot he was supposed to stop her; he just stood, a sense of serenity washing over him as he watched.

The blonde took the balloons when a strong gust blew past and held them up so they would be taken by the wind.

"Going... Going..." Gray heard her say excitedly as she watched the balloons; some immediately fell a few floors beneath them. Still, some balloons miraculously were caught up in the wind and flew skyward*, as if floating. "..._Gone_!" she exclaimed when the balloons could no longer be seen.

The tone of her voice was one that was—

_Hopeful_. The girl sounded hopeful.

"_Excuse me, you're not allowed to be here_...!" he said not holding back on the hints of authority in his voice. The raven-haired nurse called out once he snapped out of his trance-like state. He felt like he was just watching some sort of scene from a drama. He was hypnotized, captivated by the scene.

The girl jerked and turned around. She was the same girl from the ICU earlier on.

"It's _you_..." she said, taking deep breaths, "Good morning..."

"Don't _'good morning'_ me!" he easily snapped at her. "What are you doing up here, Miss... uh... _Miss_..."

"_Lucy_," she answered. "I was... _praying_..."

Just when he thought that she couldn't get any weirder.

"Can't you go pray somewhere else? This area is off limits..."

"S-Sorry," she mumbled, and she approached Gray with a pale and nervous smile. Her breathing started to become even now.

"It's okay, come on..."

Gray opened the door for the girl and let her go ahead of him. He, then, took her back to the ICU before finally taking his leave.

* * *

The streets were now starting to get busy; the early evening rush was inevitable, after all.

A picturesque scene was painted on the sky as the color melted from midnight blue to purple, to pink and then to orange toward the setting sun. The street lamps were starting to turn on now and every shop in the street competed with their own multitude of lights.

Kusama Nowaki** closed the drawer where he always puts the money in and locked it. Today had been as any other day for his flower shop: not too busy but not too empty either. The flowers he was selling have always been very beautiful and so he has had the pleasure of having some loyal customers come by.

He turned to his only worker, Gray Fullbuster, and smiled. The young man was dozing off as he waited for his boss to close the shop. Nowaki didn't know why but he was fond of the boy; maybe because both of them were raised in orphanages and struggled in adulthood by themselves. Well, at least Nowaki wasn't alone. Gray was… a bit more _unfortunate_.

"Now, now… Don't fall asleep on the counter, Gray-kun," he said and softly pat Gray on the head, waking him up from his slumber. "It's time to close the shop…"

Gray groaned and his eyes darted open when he realized he had fallen asleep. A string of apologies went out from his mouth as he sat straight up. "S-Sorry, boss…"

"Long day?"

"_Very_," he said and felt as if 'very' couldn't even begin to describe it.

"I guess you won't be coming with me and Hiro-san for dinner, then?" asked the boss, mentioning his lover.

"No, I'm sorry," he politely declined. After all, Nowaki is a busy man, juggling the flower shop and his real occupation as a pediatrician. He and his lover could use even the least of their private time together, Gray didn't want to intrude. Aside from that, the man, Hiro, is scary, and the young nurse didn't like the way he looked at him. He didn't have a thing against homosexuals but Hiro-san is just… _scary_.

"Well, you better go home and rest… I'll see you tomorrow."

"I still have to go to the orphanage, though," Gray expressed, and he could no longer hide the exhaustion in his eyes. "Hey, Nowaki-san, do you know anything that the children and the nuns might enjoy that doesn't cost much?"

The older raven-head looked up, as if thinking as well, and not a moment later, he smiled at Gray. "Why don't you just go get some flowers and balloons from storage?"

"But… Are you sure that's okay, I mean… I don't want to impose and—"

"Don't worry. Those flowers will soon be wilted if we don't get them out soon. It would be a waste of natural beauty if nobody gets to see them."

Now Gray hasn't had much experience with older males, and he certainly hasn't had anyone to call a big brother but Nowaki made him feel as if he did.

"Thank you, boss," he said and decided to accept the offer. He didn't know why, but his boss made him act less cold and more human. In contrast to his usual cold demeanor, Nowaki is warm and gentle, and kind. "Thank you…"

After telling him to lock up, the boss turned and left by the front door. Gray, on the other hand, quickly went to their storage, which was like a huge refrigerator, and took some day-old flowers he thought the nuns in the orphanage might like. He wasn't the best at flower arrangement but he tried; and after a few minutes, Gray finally had a huge bouquet of flowers in one hand, while his other hand held small balloons of varying colors. He, then, locked the store from the inside and left by the back door to start his walk to the orphanage.

It was completely dark now, a little past eight in the evening. Gray's legs felt like a million tons of weight as he dragged them by the isolated streets of the town. It was only a five-minute walk to the orphanage but it felt like it could stretch for miles and miles; and Gray was hungry, and he was tired. Maybe he would just sleep in the orphanage tonight?

_Ah, what does life even have for me anymore, I'm frickin' beat_, he thought. It seemed to Gray that his life was nothing but a repetition of yesterday; he groaned. He walked and could not help but notice all the people smiling brightly and laughing. He wondered for a moment what they were thinking of, what they find so good about life that they wanted to keep on living. He, for one, did not have anything to live for maybe except the people in the orphanage. But really, at the end of the day, what does it mean to be 'alive'?

The young man turned right into an alley to take the shortcut when he noticed something round and yellow lying by the trashcan. He felt a familiar surge of serenity upon seeing its bright yellow color. He remembered vividly the scene earlier that day with that blonde, Lucy. She has one of those congenital heart conditions, right? _Wonder why even she was fighting to live_.

Isn't it easier to just die peacefully?

He stopped and stared at the wilted ball of air.

He turned.

And then, he picked it up.

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia sneezed and then shivered. It isn't even a very cold night and yet she felt shivers in her spine as she stared out into the landscape in front of her. She could see the silhouette of the mountains in the night. Not a glimmer of light could be seen on them. In contrast to that, though, the town below it was bursting with neon-colored lights: purple, green, yellow, blue, red and white. Lucy could hear the faint sound of the cars honking; if she tried even harder, she could hear the sound of the people talking, laughing, _living_.

She smiled out of envy. She has never gone out to town after dark. She is always at home, in the mansion too big for her and her father (and some helpers), behind the big gates that surrounded their estate up the hill in the outskirts of town. Lucy sometimes even wondered why they lived so far away, so enclosed in their own little world. She understood that her father likes the peace away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but sometimes she wonders what it would be like to live somewhere loud and hectic. If her heart could take it, that is.

Lucy had always been a weak child; it ran in her and her mother's blood. She smiled at the thought of her mother. Layla was a tough woman: tougher that Lucy will ever be. After all, she was able to live until the age of twenty-eight despite having similar conditions to Lucy. The younger Heartfilia isn't like that, though. Behind that smile that seemed to brighten up her father's day is a crying girl who has always been afraid.

"Princess," said a monotonous voice which made Lucy turn around and smile. Her eyes sparkled when she saw her faithful maidservant, Virgo.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Dinner, princess…"

"As long as it's not oatmeal…" Lucy joked.

"It's oatmeal _and _strawberries, princess…"

She groaned. "Has father not come back yet?"

"Not yet, princess. Would you like to be informed once he arrives?"

"Yes, please," the blonde answered and started to head back into her room. The carpet beneath her bare feet felt comfy and warm. Its dark green color made Lucy think of it like grass; almost everything in her room was either a shade of green or white. They were the two most relaxing colors for the girl, except for yellow, of course. But yellow isn't supposed to relax a sick person's mind.

Lucy sat on her queen-sized bed and Virgo immediately placed the trolley in front of her where her meal is. Of course, the accompanying medicine is beside it: two pills of differing colors. Lucy gave an unlady-like groan.

"Can't I skip the medicine for once?"

"No, princess. Else, you will be punished," Virgor said flatly.

"You know, Virgo, you're as analytical and intelligent as people of your Signs are supposed to be but sometimes it can be a bit annoying," she pouted. "Alright, I'll take my medicine. In exchange for that, you'll have to take me to town tomorrow afternoon."

Virgo's nonchalant gaze did not even waver at the request. She, of all people, knew that Lucy isn't supposed to leave home unless absolutely necessary. But it wasn't as if Virgo wasn't conflicted about it. She cares for the girl like a sister; and she knew better than anyone in the household that Lucy isn't as fragile as they make her out to be.

"If it is only for a few hours, princess…" she answered flatly, "Is there anything in your bucket list you wish to do tomorrow?"

"We'll see what happens," she said. "All I really want to do is buy more balloons. And you know those portable helium balloon tanks?" Virgo nodded. "I also want to buy one or two of them…"

"What number are you in now, princess?"

"Uhm… Seventy-nine…"

Virgo nodded once more and scanned the room as she waited for Lucy to finish her meal. The mint green-walls are clean as they should be. She changed the curtains of the windows and the door to the veranda just yesterday while Lucy was in the hospital. The white doors to the walk-in closet that was directly beside Lucy's bed was also arranged. Cancer made sure of that. Her bedside table and the lamp are also dustless and the sheets as well as the pillow cases were new. Each and every book in the shelves were dusted and wiped clean and the bathroom is spotless. Maybe tomorrow, she should buy scented candles for the princess. It could be relaxing.

"You're thinking pretty deeply, Virgo," the girl said and brought Virgo back to Lucy's presence, "What's on your mind?"

"Plans for tomorrow, princess," she answered.

"Oh, okay…" she said, "I'm glad I have you, you know? If you weren't so nice, I probably wouldn't have half the sanity I have now with everything that's going on."

"I am glad I am able to make you happy."

"If I go at an early age, you won't leave my father, would you?"

A small twitch could be noticed and just a little, Virgo's eyebrows met. "Please do not talk like that, princess. Your surgery shall come soon."

"I know, I know," the girl replied in between spoonfuls of oatmeal. "But still, so—"

"Princess, if you leave us, I will personally punish you," she said casually. "Please be more optimistic. It does not help you if you think dark thoughts such as those."

Lucy stopped in surprise. There were only a few times when Virgo actually showed emotions and this is one of those. She smiled widely and giggled. "Of course, I'm sorry. I _will _do my best to keep breathing."

"I have always been wondering, though, princess," asked Virgo after a short silence, "Why do you not let your father get you on top of the list? I am sure he is well capable of doing such a feat."

"It isn't right… It isn't fair," she said. "Everyone on that list is fighting for their lives, not just me. Some may even have worse conditions, more reasons to keep fighting. Just because I'm rich and I can do that—just because I _can_ doesn't mean I _should._

"It isn't fair… Life… and fighting for your life should be fair. And everyone should be given equal footing, so I can't let my father do that." Lucy smiled at Virgo and pushed the trolley back; apparently, she was done. "You understand, right?"

Virgo nodded and a small, almost unnoticeable smile spilt her lips. She politely gave a bow and took her leave after Lucy took her medicine, the trolley making soft squeaks as she did. The door closed behind her and Lucy was left alone in her room. Another day is going to end, and hopefully, she will be given tomorrow. Lucy couldn't help but smile thankfully. Virgo is right, after all. Life is so much fun so happy; if she could live, she would definitely choose to do so.

The young woman stifled a yawn. Feeling sleepy right after dinner, it's strange. Well, she has been tired. Hospital visits _always _tire her. Lucy gave a short but heartfelt prayer before going under her covers.

And she traveled to dreamland with thoughts of a new day.

* * *

**WEIRDO BLABBS (AGAIN): **It's quite longer than I expected it to be. So you see, the flow of the story is still linear but I will do my best to introduce the two again and hopefully we can have more excitement in the next chapter. Hope to see you then! Thank you all for reading! ^^

*(skyward) – Remember those balloons aren't filled with helium. They won't float upwards without a strong enough wind.

**(Kusama Nowaki) –he's a character from Junjou Romantica who worked at a flower shop. I like his character so I'm borrowing him. As I said before, though, I do not own him. Thank you!

**R & R!**

_Please support my collab fanfiction with WolfieAnne,__** The Last Celestial Mage**__, and maybe my other FT fanfictions: __**Another Shot at Love, Good Taste, Massage?, Girls and Shopping **__and __**Starstruck!. **__My other (slightly) active fanfictions: __**Kuroko no Basuke RanDrabbles.**_

_If you are interested in my other works not stated above, please go to my FanFiction profile: /~weirdoblabber_


	4. Lost (Part One)

**WEIRDO BLABBS: **Yes, indeed, chapter two did not have GraLu so I am making it up to you, **but not yet, I'm afraid**. I was hoping that that chapter would establish their characters more so that they would have room for development afterwards. I hope you all understand. I will do my best in this chapter, though. I hope not to disappoint!

**R & R**!

**EDITED June 19, 2014: CelestialTitania **was nice enough to correct me. Gray is _also _a Cancer (like Lucy) so I will be using that from now on. Thank you for correcting me, it is _much appreciated_.

Also, if anyone sees any more mistakes or loose ends, feel free to PM me or just drop a review so I can correct it. Thank you all!

* * *

**-CHAPTER THREE-**_  
Lost, she found her way to me._

_"And now for all of you Cancers out there! Today is going to be a good day for you to do some_spontaneous _and create a new relationship! Do something you're afraid to do and see how brave you actually are. Your luck is highest in love, followed by family, money, health, and last is career; but don't give up! Compatibility is best with Cancers at 97, and then Virgos at 83. Be careful of steep slopes."_

The sun blazed in the sky at three in the afternoon. The town square was filled with people from all walks of life; each with his or her own agenda, his or her own business. The sound of their footsteps and their chatter, their laugh and giggles—everything was overwhelming all of the blonde's senses. They went in and out of the buildings that stretched as far as Lucy could see without thinning. The infrastructures looked taller than when she would see them from the veranda of her room and quite frankly, she awed at how different things are from the way she imagined them.

Three hours into their trip to town and she _still _thinks everything is different from the way she imagined them.

"Virgo sure is taking her time," the girl said out loud. It surely is unusual for the other to be taking so long. Virgo said she was only going to buy scented candles or something of the sort but to think that she has been gone to more than two hours is a bit… _much_.

The blonde looked around, the buzz of the busy people in town entertaining her, making her smile widely to herself. Here, they have always been so energetic while at home she stayed, getting painted black and white. Being in the middle of all this now—the colors, the sounds, the view, Lucy felt like she has been missing out on her life. She is alive, but not living; existing, but does not have an existence. But that's exactly why she wanted to start getting the most of what was left of her days.

Lucy had just finished scribbling on the pages she labelled with the 79th thing on her bucket list (_#79: Go around town with a friend._) so to pass the time the girl tuned in to her favorite horoscope program on the radio. _Ah, _she sighed and wished for the pink-haired maid to come back soon; Lucy planned to buy something for her father as well before they continue their shopping. Her father likes lilacs very much so she hopes to buy some at a shop somewhere. But the blonde is afraid of venturing out into the place foreign to her alone. She did not want to get lost and make Virgo worry.

The girl touched the edges of her small book and remembered: _Wow, number 79 is done. _Lucy had completely forgotten about the thoughts of Virgo she had had just a little over a while ago. Now, she felt amazed at the accomplishment of another item on her bucket list. It took more than a whole year to get to number 79 and so finally getting to the last 20 items was something she wanted to celebrate, even if only internally. What did she write in #80, again?

_#80: Get lost somewhere._

_Oh…_

* * *

Gray felt like he was watching a TV show with bad reception. He looked outside the window from the flower shop's counter, one hand cupping his chin, while the other tapped impatiently. The people outside the shop were all beaming; all so active despite the temperature. And yet here he is, lethargically manning the flower shop while waiting for his boss to arrive.

Business today was unusually slow. From the moment Gray opened the shop at eight in the morning to that time at three, he had only entertained five or six customers, all of them new faces. All the while he couldn't wait for his boss to arrive to actually have some human company. Really, he would have gone insane; he _almost _tried to talk to the sunflowers beside him, complaining about his day. It isn't that Gray did not _like_ to work, in fact he would have wanted it if Nowaki-san's business was a bit more booming, it was just that he did not like working when he was so _effin' _tired.

Yes, the kids weren't keen on letting him sleep last night at all.

The bell rang and the person Gray was most expectant to see came in: his boss, Nowaki. The subordinate greeted him politely, asked him about his day which Nowaki answered in one quick one statement ("Oh, it was fine," he said with his usual gentle smile) and then handed his boss the green apron he usually wears. Nowaki gladly accepted and, after stuffing his things in the small locker they had, he wore it.

"So, what have we today?" Nowaki asked, and turned on the light Gray had forgotten to turn on. _No wonder it was so dark_.

"Nothing much. Just a few bouquets sold: uhm, some roses, a few dandelions, tulips and just now, lilacs," Gray reported.

"That's great!" Nowaki exclaimed, and told Gray what a good job he did. "Well, now we can start working on these twenty sets a customer asked for."

Gray nodded; the two of them sprang to action.

Very quickly and very elegantly, Nowaki and Gray's hands were tangled in the mass of stalks and petals, leaves and thorns. It was hard enough to concentrate when there were so many things that needed to be considered to produce a beautiful bouquet; today was extra challenging as Gray couldn't help but catch a glimpse of a blonde passing by their store window every now and then. It was so familiar a blonde that Gray flinched when he caught sight of her face.

Lucy Heartfilia, the patient with the heart condition, was running outside their store.

The first time Ms. Heartfilia passed, Gray made it a point not to concern himself with her business. Maybe she's just wandering around the boutiques nearby. He went back to his first bouquet and finished it, no problem. But the blonde passed by again after he finished his second bouquet. His third bouquet, she passed them twice, running. By the time Gray finished his seventh bouquet, Ms. Heartfilia stopped in front of their store again, looked left and right, and then, as if taking her chances, took the path to her right.

By the time he finished his tenth bouquet, the same girl could be seen across the street from their shop's window, looking skyward, as if lost.

_Maybe…_

"Gray-kun?" Nowaki had successfully snapped Gray out of his reverie.

"_Yes, boss_?" he asked and hoped he didn't seem too distracted.

"We're all done with the bouquets..."

"Is the customer going to pick them up?"

"Yes," the older male answered, "so you don't need to make a delivery."

There was a pregnant pause and the two raven-heads looked at each other; it was for quite a while until Gray figured it was becoming quite awkward.

"I-Is there something wrong, boss?" he finally was able to ask, but not without stuttering at the beginning.

"No… You just seem… _distracted_," Nowaki replied, "Is there something wrong?"

"Not really, no…" Gray replied. He looked outside the window to catch another glimpse of the blonde scurrying past. Should she even be running? What if she collapses and dies? It was like the nurse felt responsible of the girl he barely knew: a heavy feeling was on his chest and he just wanted to go straight up to her and drag her home. "I—"

"Your friend?"

"Ah, no, not exactly. A patient…" he answered, "I was just… wondering…"

Gray looked outside again and this time Lucy Heartfilia was nowhere to be found. He clicked a worried tongue and before he could restrain himself, he stood up.

"Nowaki-san, would it be okay if I go home first today?"

Nowaki gave him a thumbs up, accompanied by a reassuring nod. "Be safe, okay?"

"No problem. Thanks, boss!" Gray grabbed his jacket and bag, put the apron back on its hanger and left in a hurry. He thought he saw Ms. Heartfilia going to the right and so he ran to the said direction, clutching his backpack.

_What a stupid girl_, he thought as he was forced to slow down by a large mob of people. He got on his tiptoes to look for any signs of the blonde—not that he expected to see her right away, anyway. But how hard could it be to find a girl as blonde as she was?

Gray ran again, a little more excited than he would have expected.

Why he was doing this for an almost complete stranger, he did not know.

* * *

**WEIRDO BLABBS (AGAIN): **I'm sure you're all complaining that this chapter is quite short compared to the previous chapters. Well, yes, I'm sorry for that obvious statement. I cut the "Lost" chapter into two halves since I think that having one super long chapter would bore the heck out of readers. Or I could be wrong. Anyway, please stay tuned for the next chapter which I hope will be posted sooner (unless the internet in this place tries to play a trick on me and fluctuates).

PS, it's storming here so that doesn't really help my melancholy. And, I am absolutely being random here. Sorry.

**R & R!**

_Please support my collab fanfiction with WolfieAnne,__** The Last Celestial Mage**__, and maybe my other FT fanfictions: __**Another Shot at Love, Good Taste, Massage?, Girls and Shopping **__and __**Starstruck!. **__My other (slightly) active fanfictions: __**Kuroko no Basuke RanDrabbles.**_

_If you are interested in my other works not stated above, please go to my FanFiction profile: /~weirdoblabber_


	5. Lost (Part Two)

**NOTE: **Just in case you guys missed it, I edited the previous chapter. **Thanks to CelestialTitania **for correcting me. **Gray is a Cancer, too**!

* * *

**-CHAPTER FOUR-**_  
Lost, until I found her._

Brown eyes, wide in surprise and yet having the slightest hint of glee, stared at black ones; in contrast, the latter were drooped to let out a lazy expression.

Ah, he didn't even know why the hell he went looking for her. Maybe it was because she's a patient at the hospital he works for. As a nurse, he feels like he needs to take care of everyone who needs medical assistance, should it come to that in Ms. Heartfilia's case. _That_, and the fact that the image of her struggling to breathe after watching a romance movie played in his mind like an old film in repeat made him want to make sure she was okay.

Seriously, his sense of responsibility kicked in upon remembering her in her vulnerable moments.

The blonde, Ms. Heartfilia, cocked her head to the left slightly such that she looked like a little lost puppy. What was that breed called? _Ah, golden retriever_.

"_Yo—u're_..." the girl said in a prolonged guess. Her lower lip stuck out, revealing more pale flesh.

"_Gray Fullbuster_," Gray answered, when he figured out what she had been trying to do. He looked at her nonchalantly. But whether or not he got annoyed by that incessant blinking, he didn't show.

Ms. Heartfilia's face lit up considerably; if he hadn't known better, she looked relieved now.

"What are you doing here, Fullbuster-kun?" she asked.

"Ah, please, call me 'Gray'," he insisted. "And I think I should be asking you the very same question..."

"I was... ah... _shopping_ with a friend."

He looked around. "And where is this _'friend'_?"

"She's out buying scented candles...!" she answered, almost squeal-like. Her eyes were squinted to an almost-single line and the admiring blush on her pale cheeks as she looked at him made Ms. Heartfilia look like a puppy wagging her tail, asking for a treat.

Really, why must she be likened to a dog?

"Where?" was his immediate response. And the puppy's ears drooped, her smile froze in panic, and her tail was neatly tucked beneath her legs.

"_S-Somewhere_..."

"Where _'somewhere'_?" he pushed.

"You _know_..."

"You aren't _lost_, are you?" he finally asked.

It took a while but the girl finally moved. The golden retriever looked like she gulped. Then, "Delightfully so."

"Delightfully so," he quoted. He took a deep breath and then boomed, "_Not_! Are you a friggin' _moron_?! How can you _actually_ get lost in this small town?!"

"_Tee-hee_." The blonde stuck her tongue out rather adorably and bumped her fist lightly on her head.

"Don't _'tee-hee'_ me! You could have had an arrest in this heat while running around, you know?" he scolded, "You could have died and left to rot in the gutter somewhere…" His voice eventually lowered and he became calmer.

"But I _didn't_," the blonde replied gleefully, ignoring the warning behind Gray's words. It was like this the last time, too; she easily dismissed the bad things that could have happened with her optimism. She made it look so easy to deny that she had one foot in the grave.

This annoyed Gray further. "So what are you planning to do now?"

"I'm just going to continue running around… Hopefully I bump into my friend…"

"Shouldn't you try calling her or texting her, at the very least?" he asked, still somewhat worried for reasons unknown to him.

Ms. Heartfilia shook her head. "Besides, this is the 80th thing on my bucket list."

"Bucket list… You mean that _thing_ you were doing that gave you a cardiac arrest, right?"

"_Minor _cardiac arrest," she corrected. "And yes, _that_. I at least should have fun while I'm at it."

"Ms. Heartfilia, please go home!" he begged this time, "I'm sure your friend is worried about you—"

"_Don't worry_, Gray," she dismissed. "I'll be fine…! If you want, you can accompany me. _Let's get lost together_!"

A vein popped on Gray's forehead and his cold look turned into a furious one.

"_Aaargh_!" he screamed in frustration. "Go on then! Get lost and die! _See if I care_!"

He turned his back on her, taking large stomps away from the blonde. That girl is so… _fucking annoying_. She isn't supposed to be that hyperactive. She should be, in his opinion, more careful about how she lives; well, not that he minds. He _always _reckoned that death was easier. But there was something in his gut that didn't want her to be too reckless.

But she was fine. Oh, _hell _she more alive than a five-year-old in a sugar rush. He went ahead and worried about her for nothing. He should have gone home immediately and try to rest up for another graveyard shift the following night. Why did he even think of going after the girl? She wasn't his responsibility in the first place! Ah, maybe he has been taking care of the orphans too much that he sees everyone as a helpless little kid looking for some attention.

He took more stomps forward and was about to continue doing so when he heard her say loudly to herself:

"Ah, that reminds me… _Which way is home again_?"

Gray stopped, clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. He ruffled his hair aggressively and turned back toward Ms. Heartfilia.

He couldn't leave the golden retriever alone after all.

* * *

"A pack of these and two cans of these, please!"

"Yes, ma'am…"

"And if you would be so kind, can you also give me a box of these chocolates?"

Gray rolled his eyes at her; not that Lucy—she had told him a while ago to start calling her that—could see it, anyway. The girl he had so reluctantly agreed to accompany was now busying herself in buying a pack of yellow elastic balloons, two heavy-looking helium balloon tanks, and a box of chocolates Gray reminded himself to take from her later on (the caffeine in them is a no-no for Lucy).

Lucy paid the woman in the store, turned to her companion with a smile and gestured for Gray to take the things she had just purchased, all sealed in a box; _as if he did not have enough of that already_.

Right after coming back for her, the golden retriever of a girl has somehow convinced Gray to tour her around as she went to buy stuff. What a surprise his boss got when Gray returned to their little shop a few minutes after leaving for home just so Lucy could buy the lilacs meant for her father. In the end, it was the nurse who arranged the bouquet when Lucy and Nowaki-san got into a conversation, even exchanging numbers. After leaving the flower shop, the blonde wanted to go and look at some old books. So Gray took her to a nice bookshop nearby, only to regret it later when the girl bought half a stack of books for him to carry. And if books on both hands weren't enough, Lucy couldn't help but add to all these when her eyes sparkled at the sight of a thrift shop on sale. Apparently, it was her first time to shop in one (Gray clicked his tongue at this. "Geh, rich kids," he spat) and wasted no time to buy the "cutest blouse" or the "most comfy boots ever".

And now, he has another boxful.

Indeed, Gray was regretting ever leaving the comfort of the flower shop where he could be lazy. With both hands stretched out in front of him cradling Lucy's shopping bags and the box she just recently purchased, he followed right after the blonde.

It was dusk now. The sun was starting to set, tucked nicely beneath clouds of orange dusted with pink. The sky was slowly starting to turn midnight blue and the first star had just appeared to mark the beginning of night. All around them, the stores were turning on their lights, and this seemed to amaze Lucy to the point that her smile never dropped as she looked at the stores, the lights reflecting on her pale face.

_At least she seems to be having fun, _he thought and this made him think that being nice had its perks. Lucy practically emitted waves of happiness that reached Gray and made him want to smile beside himself.

"Those things in this box," he started when he realized how quiet they have been all afternoon, "they're for that thing you did at the rooftop, aren't they?"

The girl slowed down her pace to walk right beside Gray. Her chocolate orbs were now examining the lilacs she cradled in her arms. "Yes…"

"If you don't mind me asking, what _were _you doing up there?"

"I told you, didn't I?" she said and looked up at him. "I was praying…"

"Praying, huh?" he said sceptically, "Doesn't praying involve kneeling and folding hands or something like that?"

"Yes, well… This prayer is different…"

"_Ah_…" he said with finality.

But Lucy must have thought it was an encouragement to keep talking. "Do you know that the wind carries your wishes to God?"

"No," he deadpanned, preparing himself for a long story he did not want to hear.

"That's what my mother used to do… Every time she wished for something special, she would go up to our veranda to pray, release balloons into the sky and say '_Going, going, gone_!' like a mantra." The girl laughed as if remembering something very precious to her. "It became almost like a daily routine seeing her do that every day."

"Does your mother still do that now?" he asked.

"No… Not anymore," she replied. There was a tinge of pain that did not escape Gray's extraordinary perceptive skills.

"Why not?"

"She's… in heaven now."

"_Oh_," he said and regretted ever asking. He gave a nervous cough and stayed silent for a while. It was awkward and agonizing.

The two slowly started to move away from the busier part of town into a less crowded place. They were surrounded by residential houses now: quiet and calm; very unlike the place they have been.

"So, uh…" Gray started again in an attempt to dismiss the awkward silence, "You do that every day? _Praying_, I mean."

"Oh, no," Lucy replied and her voice was much livelier now, "Just when I finish something from my bucket list."

"Don't you get tired of it? I mean… _What's the point_?"

"You don't know much about YOLO, do you?"

"I beg your pardon? _YOLO_?" Gray rolled his eyes at her.

"_'You Only Live Once'_."

"Yes, well, you do only live once. And then you _die_..."

It was now Lucy's turn to roll her eyes. Gray fought back an amused smile.

"You're such a boring person," Lucy commented, "At least by doing my bucket list I can die without regrets..."

"If you're gonna die anyway, why bother?"

"I _don't_..." she started, "...wanna die just yet..."

"Death is easier, isn't it? It's a luxury afforded to the suffering..."

"The easier things aren't always the best, you know?" Lucy pouted and met gazes with him. "Geez, why are you such a death freak?"

"I'm _not_ a death freak!" Was he? "I just think that... if you're gonna die anyway, why bother to live if your already struggling, you know? I mean, in _your_ case—"

"I'm not gonna die...!" she said and it sounded to Gray like she has been saying that a lot to convince everybody, even herself. "_I'm not_...!"

A wave of guilt rose to Gray's throat like a lump that made it hard to swallow. For the first time, he felt bad about voicing his opinions. He had always been outspoken and unafraid to be so; but looking at the girl made him think twice about speaking up again. Lucy really did look like she wanted to live; as if dying was the only thing she wasn't allowed to do.

Gray and Lucy made an uphill climb on the sidewalk. They were silent as they did so, and Gray could feel that what he had just said short-circuited Lucy's brain that the chatterbox became quiet. Now, she seemed lost in thought, conflicted... _in pain_; like a golden retriever that got scolded. Ah, how long has it been since he last felt guilty? Too long, maybe. After all, Gray had long been shielding himself from deeper interaction with others. Caring about those he considered strangers was the last thing on his mind.

And yet, here he was, wondering what to say to appease the girl's threat to break out in tears.

He should have known Lucy Heartfilia brought nothing but trouble.

The said girl stopped in her tracks upon reaching the top of the hill. This made her companion stop to look at her, fringe covering her eyes and shoulders trembling like she was battling to breathe.

Gray gulped. She shouldn't be having an attack just because of that, should she?

Lucy gave a loud, desperate scream that sounded like '_Kyaaaaaaaaah!_' and hurriedly ran down the steep slope of the hill. At first, the raven-haired nurse was taken by surprise at her spontaneity and couldn't move; but a split second later he, himself, was running down the slope. Obviously, the adrenaline was pumping through his veins so much that he didn't even mind the heavy things in his hand.

Gray made huge but careful steps down the hill after Lucy; he tried not to laugh when she let out another petty scream which sounded like, "_YOLO!_"

"You idiot golden retriever! Slow down!"

He watched as Lucy stumbled to a stop at the bottom of the slope. She buckled, hands resting on both knees. Turning to him weakly, chest rising and falling in a deep and irregular pattern, she pouted, eyes glassy with tears.

"I'm… _not _go—" the girl attempted to get her message across but then failed due to breath shortage, "…I'm not… _gonna_… gonna di… die…!"

Gray dropped everything carefully to the ground and ran to her aide and immediately pulled out a paper bag from his backpack. He rushed to her side and put it over her nose and mouth. Ever so slowly, her breathing became steady and normal. The boy couldn't help but give her a small smile, that of pity and amusement.

"Are you _always _this extreme?" he asked. Lucy's legs gave out due to fatigue and lack of oxygen. She landed with a soft thud in Gray's strong arms and the young nurse kneeled down to give her a more comfortable position. "You could have _died_!"

"_But I didn't_…" she said in one swift breath now.

He gave her a condescending head shake; but his laugh was hearty and calm.

"That's it… Breathe easy…"

"Gray…?"

"Yes?"

"Where's your shirt?"

"_Eh_?"

"You've… _stripped_…"

Gray looked down and saw that he was now topless, his rather toned chest and abdomen glistening orange in the last rays of the setting sun. He let out a not-so-manly yelp and looked up to see that his button-up shirt and his jacket were both left lying at the side of the road. The raven-head mentally cursed at first, still not letting Lucy go, but then thanked the gods that he hasn't actually stripped everything this time.

"S-Sorry… I, uh… I'm gonna go back up to get it just… Are you okay now?"

"Yes, thank you, nurse Gray…" she teased and removed herself from his awkward embrace. "Can I ask, though, what's your Sign?"

"Sign…? Uh… Cancer…"

"No wonder," the girl said and smiled, "The horoscope is _always _right."

_That doesn't even make sense_, he mused but then thought twice about saying it out loud. He walked towards his shirt, grabbed it and tossed his jacket over himself.

"So… Shall we get you home now?"

"Ah, yes… I guess we should, shouldn't we?" The girl giggled and it was a first. Her voice fell on Gray's ears like it was music.

Her giggling died and she looked up at him, smiling. Gray met gazes with her; he didn't know it but he was smiling too. There was a warmth in his chest that spread all over his body to the tips of his toes when he saw her perfectly white teeth. It made him glad, even in the slightest bit, that he had come. By then he wondered how Lucy would look if her pale cheeks were adorned with a natural pinkish dust that meant health; how beautiful she would be then.

A hand rose up to the back of Gray's neck to hide his nervousness. He let out a small chuckle and tried to turn his gaze away from Lucy, but failed.

_Beep! Beep!_

The sound of a car's horn rudely shattered the comfortable silence between the two. Lucy glanced behind Gray and the latter followed to see a sleek black car Gray thought only existed in movies. It was going at an abnormally fast speed downhill; it screeched to a stop immediately beside them. One window at the back of the car rolled down to reveal a pink-haired girl in a traditional maid's uniform looking nonchalantly at Gray and then at Lucy.

"Princess…" she said.

"_Virgo_!" the girl beside Gray exclaimed. "I thought you'd gone home already!"

The other girl, Virgo, gracefully exited the vehicle and made a small bow. "When I went back to the café and saw your note—" she held up a tiny yellow sticky note where Lucy had written '_Please go home for today_' in small and neat letters, "—I immediately called the chauffer to look for you. We have been looking all afternoon and have not found you.

"You will be punished when you get home."

Gray and Lucy sweatdropped; Lucy, because she did not like the prospect of 'punishment' no matter how much of a joke it sounded, and Gray, because he felt like he has been in the presence of someone very important all afternoon and yet he did not even recognize. He even had the guts to call her a moron; hopefully she wouldn't hold it against him.

Virgo turned to Gray, her blank eyes having the slightest bit of scrutiny. She gave him a small bow. "I thank you for having found our princess."

"I-I am glad to be of service," he answered, matching Virgo's archaic way of speaking. He cringed after speaking and shuddered upon hearing his own voice.

"Shall you request any reward, it shall be given to you—"

"Ah, no, I was just being nice, that's all—"

"Of course, if we discover that the princess has been harmed or has suffered any injury during the time she has been with your company, you shall be punished to the extreme."

Gray gulped when Virgo's eyes were accusing and dangerous now. He hoped she wouldn't hear about Lucy's minor attack.

The young maid took all of Lucy's stuff that lay scattered and neglected on the sidewalk and put them in the trunk. Then, she gestured for the princess beside Gray to climb on to her carriage—er, _car_. When Lucy dismissed her and told her to go in ahead of her, Virgo bowed and obeyed without question.

"Thank you for today, Gray. I _did _enjoy myself… er, except for the last part."

"Yeah, that was a bit extreme," he chuckled, "Hopefully you wouldn't be doing anything like that soon."

Lucy gave a small laugh. "We'll see…"

"So, I guess we need to go part ways now?" he asked her.

"But before that!" she exclaimed. With one hand on the bouquet again, she rummaged through her small purse and took out her phone. "We should exchange numbers! The horoscope this morning said that I would be creating a new relationship today and it came true. It's never been wrong before so I think I should, at the very least, get your contact information."

The boy chuckled and took out his phone as well. "If ever you get lost again, don't hesitate to call…"

The two exchanged numbers before Lucy climbed onto the car and waved goodbye. The window rolled back up and Gray could no longer see her; only his own reflection smiling goofily at the prospect of a new friend—the latest since a few years back. The car revved to life and sped away until the young man could no longer see it.

Gray let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. What a tiring day it has been, he thought. And yet he was more energized than he had been this morning. It must be the adrenaline still lingering in his blood, and so he turned around and set out to the direction of his home.

He wondered if and when he would see Lucy again. And then shook his head disapprovingly; he had been out of character all afternoon. It would be detrimental to think about it even more and end up losing himself because of a single golden retriever that somehow made its way into his shielded and cold life.

Gray started to walk in the dark streets now. And what a silent trek it was.

* * *

**WEIRDO BLABBS (AGAIN): **Does anyone here watch Kuroko no Basuke? I actually took some of Midorima Shintarou's fanaticism with horoscopes and merged it with Lucy's character. Who saw the *very teeny* resemblance? Anyway, I hope that you guys like this chapter. It's not too intense; not too fluffy or anything like that. I want to take things slow and steady. They're still just friends, after all. Love will come, let's just be patient to see it bloom. Thank you all!

**R & R!**

_Please support my collab fanfiction with WolfieAnne,__** The Last Celestial Mage**__, and maybe my other FT fanfictions: __**Another Shot at Love, Good Taste, Massage?, Girls and Shopping **__and __**Starstruck!. **__My other (slightly) active fanfictions: __**Kuroko no Basuke RanDrabbles.**_

_If you are interested in my other works not stated above, please go to my FanFiction profile: /~weirdoblabber_


	6. A Willing Accomplice

**WEIRDO BLABBS: **Happy Birthday, Lucy! Well, good thing I was able to finish this chapter just in time! Unfortunately, in this story, it _still _not time for Lucy's birthday. Please bear with me some more as I cannot disrupt the flow of the fanfic. Thank you for everyone who reviewed; this long, hopefully fluffy-enough chapter is all for you. Spread the GraLu love!

**Don't forget to Review and tell me what you guys think! ; )**

**GRALU WEEK NOTIFICATION: **GraLu week 2014 starts on September 1 and September 7! If you guys would like to join and celebrate it, you can go to tumblr blog for more info – fyeahgrayluweek. As **Nora57 **so ingeniously put it: GraLu family **UNITE!** ^^

* * *

**-CHAPTER FIVE-**_  
A willing accomplice is another term for a good friend..._

By eight o'clock, Gray let out a sigh—the umpteenth one—as his head lay motionless on the cold marble countertop.

Everything was progressing at an unusually slow pace. Gray was sprawled all over the counter with imaginary flies flying about him. He was _bored_; he hasn't had any fun since three weeks back, when he and Lucy were out apparently getting lost. Every day since then has been a plain and yawn-eliciting comparison. In fact, at that very moment he wished something at least slightly exciting would come and stir him from his stupor. The huge glass window was once again a TV with bad reception, this time, showing evening town rush.

He sighed again.

Although he and Lucy exchanged numbers, neither made contact. Maybe Lucy forgot about him or she just became busy. As for Gray, he had so much in his hands that he rarely texted. He worked at the flower shop all day and, recently, the hospital all night. It would even be a rare occurrence for Gray to have six hours of deep sleep. So, of course, texting a mere stranger was the least of his concerns. The image of the blonde had become like a memory in black-and-white to him; so much so that he could hardly remember the details of her face. All he could vividly remember when he tries to imagine her is her laugh.

But despite all this, every now and then he would be reminded of Lucy… especially when, once a week, a huge order of lilacs would be made and picked up by a young man with dull orange hair.

Gray turned his gaze toward one bunch of violet flowers ready to be picked up; but unlike the usual, today's order came along with one bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums.

He groaned. Somehow, it made him worry just seeing the color.

"Gray-kun, it's not nice to sleep on the job." Nowaki has successfully shocked Gray and the younger male sat up, letting out a loud yelp when the back of his head smacked onto the wall right behind him. "You seem deep in thought..."

"Just not looking forward to tonight's graveyard," he replied, nursing a lump. "Fifth in a row this week and I'm not getting enough sleep in the morning."

"Do you need a time off?"

"No... I could use the cash..." he replied. "I'm not getting paid at the hospital, you know..."

"Well, it's eight. Should you be getting there about now?"

Another groan escaped Gray's pouted lips and he immediately left his seat on the high stool. He was afraid that if he didn't, he would never bring himself to.

"You're right. It's better if I'm early, anyway..."

He was quick to take his things from his small cabinet, and his coat from the hanger. Then, he proceeded to the door in long, graceful strides.

The sound of their small, bronze bell signalled the arrival of a newcomer and Gray stopped; by reflex, he and Nowaki greeted in automatic response. "_Welcome_, what may we do for you tonight?" came their greeting.

A young man, no older than Gray, stepped inside, sporting a white, long-sleeved V-neck. His dark cargo pants fell just below his ankles to show black genuine leather footwear. The ginger shifted his hand to adjust small, round, tinted spectacles before he shoved them into his pockets again.

"Hello, Nowaki-sama, I'm here to pick up the orders," he said in a polite baritone. He took two steps closer to the one bunch on the table and examined them with a longing smile. "They're beautiful as always..."

"Ah, _Loki-kun_," the boss greeted upon recognition. Nowaki emerged from his spot behind the counter and to the newcomer's, Loki's, side. "I'm glad you like them. The rest of the flowers are in the back. Thank you for buying them from our store."

Loki gave a small but noticeable smile. "Yours are the most beautiful lilacs I've seen in my life..."

"Well, the grower is a friend and he is very dedicated to his gardening," Nowaki explained, a slight blush dusting his cheeks with the faintest of pink. "Ah, but the chrysanthemums are new?"

"Yes, well... It's for... a _friend_..." he said. The smile on his face tightened to a bitter line.

"Joy, optimism, and long life, if I'm not mistaken," the boss said, giving the yellow petals an affectionate brush with the tips of his fingers. The ginger nodded curtly.

With a manly twirl, Nowaki turned his back on the guest and disappeared to the backroom where he stored the rest of the flowers Loki had ordered. There were twenty bunches all in all and the boss couldn't stuff them all up front to take the space. Well, since it was a small store in the first place, Gray couldn't help but agree.

The area they were currently renting was a mere four-by-seven-meter room with the walls painted a beautiful dull yellow. There was a marble counter painted brown situated at the middle right of the room, which has always been Gray's quarters. Beside the counter was a door that led to a huge refrigerator-like workshop where they always arranged and stored their flowers. Perpendicular to that was another door for the restroom. A small brown cabinet was permanently plastered beside the door; and underneath was a coat hanger. The rest of the small space was filled with bunches upon bunches of flowers, all of different colors, sizes and variety.

Thinking about it now, they had so many flowers. Gray wondered how they were able to manage them so well.

Well, life is full of mysteries. What's the harm to add another one on the list?

A clanging noise could be heard coming from the workshop and the raven-head was snapped out from adoring their store. He and Loki looked at the door, wondering what it was that made the noise.

The two young men were left in an awkward pause as they waited; the slight humming of the fluorescent rod constant in the background while the noise from outside joined it in a cacophonous mess of sounds.

"_Um_," was the first word that came out of Gray's mouth. Then he gave a nervous cough to hide his hesitation. "You aren't affiliated with the Heartfilias, are you?"

Loki turned to Gray, eyebrows raised in surprise, but eyes blank. "I am... I work for them."

"Oh," he said. "The lilacs, I... Lucy came here a few weeks ago and bought the very same bunch."

"Ah, you're a friend of Lucy's?"

"_Acquaintance_," he corrected. "I haven't heard from her in over three weeks."

Loki gave an understanding nod. "Lucy was the one who suggested this place to us. Her father is very fond of lilacs, you see, but doesn't have the time to buy them for himself or his wife's grave; so Lucy took it upon herself to buy them for him once a week."

He paused and let out an amused laugh like a blow through the nose.

"She's been quite busy with her studies lately. She had a lot of catching up to do since last she went for her monthly observation. Stubborn as she is, she works hard—which worries us. Wouldn't want her to faint all of a sudden... She has that effect on people, always making them worry for her..."

"I think I know what you mean." The affirmation came naturally from Gray's lips. Loki chuckled.

"We make sure she gets checked often. In fact, starting today, she's due for another week at the hospital."

Which means he'd probably see her while making his rounds later on. A queasy feeling hugged Gray's stomach and he wasn't sure if it was excitement or anxiety. Lucy meant trouble, after all. He should prepare for each and every possibility of an attack or mischief with regards to a girl he hardly remembers.

Dark orbs caught a glimpse of the yellow bouquet beside the lilacs. Now that he can see the brightness of the color again, he couldn't help but compare them to Lucy's blonde strands. Ah, yes… the same annoyingly-yellow shade.

No wonder he felt worried.

But not as worried as Loki sounded, though. Gray immediately turned to gaze sideways at his company.

"Ah, sorry. I'm talking too much, aren't I?" he asked, laughing apologetically.

"No, it's fine... A girl like that could push _anyone_ to their wit's end."

The two shared a chuckle.

The door of the workshop creaked open slowly and Nowaki expertly slipped through the crack, nineteen bouquets on both his hands. Gray and Loki came to his rescue, each trying to carry as many of the flowers as he could. The three struggled to open the shop door and put the flowers together with the chrysanthemums at the back of Loki's car.

"That's everything," the older ebony-head announced and he popped his knuckles.

"Thank you, Nowaki-sama. I'd be taking these home now," Loki said, "As usual, the amount will be deposited to the store's account when I get home."

"_Thank you for your patronage_!" the boss replied. He bid both Gray and Loki goodbye before marching back happily into the store. It was time to close the shop.

"You're leaving ahead of your boss?" asked Loki, his arms resting on the car's open door. Gray stood beside him, watching as Nowaki-san started to put some stuff away.

"Yeah... I volunteer at the hospital Lucy is in and I've got an eleven-to-seven shift tonight," he revealed.

Loki's eyes brightened beneath his spectacles.

"Ah, it may be too much but..." The ginger bent and leaned in into the car to take the yellow flowers; he held them out to Gray with expectation, "Can I ask you to take these to Lucy?"

"Eh, _why me_?" he asked.

"Since you're going there anyway... I hope you don't mind," Loki explained, "I've a few things to take care of, myself, so... Just please tell Lucy they're from me."

"Oh, I..." Hesitantly, he curled his fingers just above Loki's grasp on the bouquet. "_Okay_... I guess..."

"Thanks, man," he said. With a two-fingered salute, Loki popped open the door to the driver's seat and climbed in. He started the engine and honked twice at Gray before finally speeding away into the busier part of the town's streets.

And Gray could see his car no more.

The young nurse looked at the bouquet in his hands. Almost an hour after it's been taken out of the water. Any more and it might wither completely. He's not so much the emotional type; in fact, he might be jaded. But it wasn't as if he couldn't empathize with Loki's feelings of wanting to bring a smile on someone's face... even if it's just flowers. It has always been Gray's wish to do that for everyone at the orphanage; Loki's situation with Lucy was not much different.

He turned on his heel and set toward the direction of the hospital. It would probably be some five-to-ten-minute walk from there. In that span of time, he would have nothing to keep himself entertained except for the flowers in his hand.

The nurse adjusted his bag slung over his left shoulder and he walked.

Maybe in the meantime he could think of what to say when he meets Lucy again.

* * *

Gray arrived at the hospital seven minutes later, much to the surprise of the other ICU staff. He reasoned that he wanted to come early but the bouquet of flowers in his hand did not come unnoticed, and it did not come without much unneeded teasing. He finally escaped the nurses who couldn't keep their noses out of other people's businesses when he said that he was there to visit someone _for someone_. He briskly strode to the rooms in the ICU, stopping in front of the one at the end of the hall. It was labelled _'Lucy Heartfilia'_ and Gray knocked thrice before he poked his head inside.

"_Lucy_?"

The familiar scent of antiseptic tickled his nostrils as he entered the mint-green room. He passed the bathroom to his left and proceeded to the main room. Gray sighed as he inched closer to the bed and he put the flowers on the bedside table where a dark blue vase was erected. The girl lay there, wearing the white hospital gown for in-patients, sleeping serenely on a flurry of white sheets.

Lucy looked _tired_. If it wasn't for the steady rising and falling of her chest, her pale features would surely make her pass off as one of the dead. The still silence in the room mirrored that of her breathing. And as he sat down on the chair beside Lucy's bed, Gray couldn't help but admire the quiet and the calmness of the environment.

The TV was muted as it showed the evening news. It hung on the wall directly in front of the hospital bed. Below it was a plain mahogany piece; empty, Gray deduced, but nonetheless attractive. To the rightmost corner of the room, a similar cabinet stood. Its dark brown color was a stark contrast to the soft mint green of the walls. One of its doors creaked open slightly to reveal a bit of Lucy's clothing and stuff; apparently, whoever opened it last did not close it properly. Beside the cabinet was a small refrigerator, and the rest of the wall behind it was covered with dark green curtains purposely hiding the night view of the town. Gray looked to his left and saw his own reflection on a huge mirror attached to a dresser. The top of the dresser was messed by a number of things like powder, a hairbrush and two books of medium thickness. Had it not been for the oxygen tank and the IV drip stand toward the bed's left side, the space could easily pass off as a normal room for a normal, healthy girl.

But alas, the one who now lay on the bed beside Gray was not healthy but _weak_; and apparently still oblivious to his awkward presence.

_Or not._

"Hm..." Lucy groaned, and she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open weakly. The immediate sight of a newcomer beside her made the blonde look closer at him. "_Who_?"

"_Gray_," he answered. "I was sent here by Loki..."

"_Lo...ki_?" she asked, a yawn cutting her question in half. He nodded. "_Right_... Has he come for the flowers yet?"

"Yeah," he answered. Then he gestured for Lucy to look over his shoulder, "And he asked me to take those to you."

"_Chrysanthemums_..." Lucy pouted. "Horoscope did say that Leo's will be getting in my way today."

"What's wrong with the flowers?" asked Gray, a bit insulted as he was the one who did the arrangements on that particular bouquet.

"It's not the presentation or anything," she explained, "but you do know that giving chrysanthemums to a person is like wishing them a long life or something... It's not like I'm going to die anytime soon."

Remembering how touchy she was about being pitied, Gray defended, "I don't think he gave you those because of that. Don't you think this particular shade is a nauseating replica of the color of your hair?"

"_Nauseating_? Well, excuse me," the girl said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. But then she looked at the flowers for a while, her eyes saying 'oh, yeah, I guess so'.

She giggled.

The two were stuck in the middle of a pregnant pause for a while after until Lucy offered Gray some apples, which he was quick to accept. The young man walked slowly toward the small refrigerator, opened it, and took out a container with sliced apples swimming in fruit juice. Only then had Gray realized he was hungry and without reservation, he took one slice and bit on it.

"Sorry I couldn't keep contact," the girl said after a while. She, too, was nibbling on a slice of fruit. "I just sort of forgot because I was a bit busy with make-up classes..."

"Don't mention it. I had my own stuff to do so I wouldn't have had time to reply even if I wanted to," Gray replied casually. "You're in senior high school now?"

"Graduating next month," the said girl replied, somewhat excitedly. "That's, like, number _ninety-something_ on my list..."

Gray's heart felt like it was being squeezed by one tight grip. Normally, he wouldn't care about people's businesses; but for someone to want to do something he had taken for granted, his usual cold and indifferent demeanor was defeated so casually by the Lucy Heartfilia.

Loki's words resurfaced at the back of his mind like a whisper: _She has that effect on people, always making them worry for her..._

It may well be uninvited, but Lucy has forced her way into Gray's little world.

"So, how have you been these past weeks, Gray?" she asked, licking a finger after finishing her third slice of apple.

"I dunno..." Unconsciously, Gray cracked his neck. "_Tired_, I guess..."

"Is working in a hospital that tiring?"

"_Of course_," he said almost immediately, "And then I have to work at the flower shop. What do you expect?"

The girl shrugged and Gray muttered a 'Geh, rich kids' before helping himself to another slice. There were surprisingly a lot of them in the container; he wondered if he would be allowed to finish them all if Lucy didn't feel up to it.

"What number are you in on now?" he asked her.

"Still eighty-one. Haven't been able to do anything because of my studies..."

"What's number eighty-two?"

"Suddenly so curious, are we?" The teasing in her voice hit Gray like a stray bullet.

He stammered, "J-Just wanted to know if it's anything _remotely dangerous_!"

"Oh, _don't worry_... It's only ordering take-out from some fast food chain I heard about years back..." Her hand was waving at him in a dismissive motion, her nose stuck in the air making her look like an aristocrat.

"And what, may I ask, do you want to take-out?"

"Double cheese burger, extra large fries, and diet coke."

"You are a fucking moron, aren't you? Those are high-fat foods. You're not allowed!"

Lucy shook her head at his rebuttal. She lifted a finger at him, a smug smile on her face. "But it's _perfect_ that I'm in the hospital. That way, if anything were to happen to me, medical attention is easily accessible."

Then, she added, "It's a _fool-proof_ plan!"

"Wow, you're one suicidal idiot." And she called _him_ a death freak. He placed the lid on the container and put it on top of the dresser. "You're absolutely _ridiculous_."

"Aw, come on. Don't tell me you don't find the prospect of doing something, as you say, _remotely dangerous_, to be exciting?"

"I do... But I'm a healthy person. _You_, on the other hand—"

"_What_...?" she challenged him to continue. "I'm _what_?"

"Are too optimistic for your own good," he replied and managed to keep himself from stuttering. His tactlessness had managed to ruin her mood yet again, like the last time they met.

Lucy looked away from Gray, her eyes wandering past the curtains to the concealed view outside.

_Poor Lucy_, he thought. And he rarely thought 'poor' anyone. But then and there he couldn't help but feel sorry for Lucy. The blonde must have been so sheltered, so protected, that she wasn't allowed the slightest bit of adventure. Her high-class family, her fragile state, her overprotective others; she must have wanted nothing more than to be treated like a normal girl... not a glass figurine... not someone who would break so easily.

Compared to her, though, Gray was afforded the luxury of adventure and injury every day. Childhood for him consisted of playing games and pranks with the rest of the boys after school. He'd experienced getting a broken bone, getting a huge scratch, riding a bicycle and falling. Every inch of his body had been bruised and scratched, only to make him stronger.

But Lucy... Poor, _poor_ Lucy.

Gray contemplated and felt emotion swirling in him like it has never had before. Empathy for Lucy filled his insides at a gut-churning level.

"_Wait here_."

He stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked, facing him again.

"Just wait here like a good little girl," Gray said and rolled his eyes then he walked away without another word.

He quietly left the room. The door clicked shut behind him, and he headed out to town again.

* * *

_'Wait here_,' he said.

_'Like a good little girl_,' he said.

Lucy pouted as she plucked the petals of the last of the yellow flowers on her hand one by one. Her patience was growing thin. Although plucking the petals worked for a good few minutes, it's now becoming boring—_and_ annoying. Her companion had left her around half an hour ago and she was told to wait patiently for something that she didn't even know what; like she had been told to stay at home all her life.

Why does _everyone_ keep telling her what to do?

Can't they see that she's stronger than what they make her out to be?

She had a list of eighty-one things that she's done and come out alive of. Isn't it enough proof that she is a normal girl willing to live an active and full life?

The air conditioner was the only sound she was hearing. Its deep humming was threatening to lull her to sleep again. _Hospitals are so boring_, she thought. But she had to go through with the week-long check-ups or else she wouldn't be allowed to wander on her own; and being caged was the last thing she had in mind.

The last was plucked and her bed was now littered with yellow petals. She looked at her handiwork, smirked, and then laid her head on the headrest of the bed.

Lucy didn't hear the opening and closing of her bedroom door.

"What the hell have you done to my flowers?!", though, she heard perfectly. Gray came rushing to her side, face incredulous as he stared at the mess Lucy made. His eyes darted from petal to petal on the white sheets and he seemed authentically saddened.

"_You've destroyed the flowers!_" he exclaimed and put one hand on his head to rake the strands of his hair. "You... _destroyed_ them...!"

Lucy blinked and couldn't speak. She had always thought that Gray was good-looking and attractive right at the moment he ran up to her in town. He had the vibe of a hero—a prince—ready to rescue a damsel in distress. His dark eyes that drooped with a nonchalant charm, his perfect nose and thin lips; his raven hair and his sculpted body she has had the pleasure of seeing once; if they do not make Gray Full-_something-or-the-other_ a desirable male specimen, then Lucy did not know what does. But when he looked at the petals with concern in his eyes, his lips tugged down to a frown and his eyebrows pinching slightly at the sight, Lucy couldn't help but think that is the most handsome she has seen Gray yet.

"The _heck_ are you looking at?!" he asked and now fashioned a look of utter curiosity. Gray took his seat beside her bed and placed a paper bag on her side. "Geez, after all that effort to pull a perfect bouquet..."

"_S-Sorry_," she apologized and was brought back to the conversation Gray was starting, "I just... I wasn't aware..."

"Never mind it... But really, it's such a waste!"

The girl's eyes landed on the brown bag he had placed beside her. She cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out what it could contain but failed as she had no idea what brown bags are used for anyway.

She must have been staring for quite some time since Gray said, "Any time now, Lucy" and snapped her out of investigating.

"_S-Sorry_," she said again in the same manner as before. "But what's this?"

He clicked his tongue, crossed his arms and slouched on the chair. "_Number eighty-two_."

"Eighty-two...?"

Realization soon dawned on the girl and she was quick to grab the paper bag and look inside for the contents. She gave a girly gasp of surprise when she saw that it contained a burger wrapped in yellow paper and a large order of fries on the side.

Gray produced a can of diet soda from somewhere. "They didn't have diet soda at the fastfood 'coz they ran out so I got this somewhere else..."

"Are these... _for me_?"

"Well, they aren't for me, are they?" he asked her, smirking. "But just so I don't get sued for killing you, I'm not part of this, okay? You have been faithful in taking your medicine, haven't you?"

A series of small nods. "Th-Thank you..."

"Just get this over with," he said. "Seriously, I don't know why I even did that for you..."

Lucy's hand reached in and pulled the burger out. It was a large double cheeseburger, the way she'd imagined it. She opened her mouth and took a big first bite; the harmony of strong flavors colliding in her mouth and striking her taste buds like crazy.

Then, she realized that it was possible to cry because food tasted so good.

"H-Hey, why are you crying?!" Gray asked.

Lucy sniffed and chewed. It really _did_ taste heavenly.

She watched as Gray panicked and took out a handkerchief from his side pocket. He hesitated for a moment—arm reaching toward and away from her—before finally wiping the tears on her cheeks. His own were dusted pink.

"You're so nice," she said in a low voice that wasn't normally how she sounded. "Gray, _you're so nice_..."

"It's just a burger and fries," he said, "It'd be too bad if you can't eat _even that_..."

"What happened to being stupid and suicidal?" she asked, tears stopping now.

"You still are... In exchange for me buying you that, please don't get an attack..." Gray said, "_I beg of you_...!"

She nodded and sniffed. Then, she reached out and offered him a bite of her food.

"No, it's yours..." he said.

"Come on... We're _accomplices_," she said, "From now on you'll be the overseer of my activities..."

"Please don't get me involved into something dangerous," he joked and bit the cheeseburger from her hand anyway. "Hm... _Delicious_..."

He laughed and so did she, and it was a good laugh. Lucy had never felt so alive. She ate to her heart's content. And although she could feel her body slowly reacting to the intake of forbidden food, she and Gray talked it away. For the first time, she didn't need medicine to steady her breathing. She didn't need to be calmed down. Her breath hitched and her chest tightened; but she couldn't tell anymore whether it was from the take-out or from laughing so hard at Gray's stories. She coughed and wheezed, he asked if she was alright. And she said she was fine, because she _is_.

After finishing her meal and surviving a bout of an almost-arrest, Lucy lay on her back while watching Gray put away the trash. Eyes heavy and apparently tired, she counted her breaths to ease her way back to dreamland.

How awesome Gray had been to her. He was probably trying to cheer her up. Now she had quite a number friends but he was definitely the _coolest_. How she was able to open up to such a stranger was still a mystery to her but no matter. She was happy to finally meet a willing accomplice to her crimes.

Lucy smiled. Now she had another one of those people who she wanted to live for. The thought itself delighted her; and with that in mind, Lucy fell fast asleep again.

* * *

**WEIRDO BLABBS (AGAIN): **Everyone let's participate in GraLu week **September 1****st**** to September 7****th****. **Let's spread the GraLu love!

**R & R!**

_Please support my collab fanfiction with WolfieAnne,__** The Last Celestial Mage**__, and maybe my other FT fanfictions: __**Another Shot at Love, Good Taste, Massage?, Girls and Shopping **__and __**Starstruck!. **__My other (slightly) active fanfictions: __**Kuroko no Basuke RanDrabbles.**_

_If you are interested in my other works not stated above, please go to my FanFiction profile: /~weirdoblabber_


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